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$DSP Q3 2025 earnings: Major Molson Coors win validates strategy while results beat guidance despite headwinds. Viant delivered a solid quarter, successfully navigating the significant, pre-announced headwinds from losing a seasonal client and lapping last year's political ad spending. The company exceeded the midpoint of its guidance for Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA and hit the high end for its key Contribution ex-TAC metric. The most important development this quarter is the new multi-year partnership with Molson Coors, which will begin in 2026. This is a major validation of the company's strategy to move upmarket and proves its ViantAI platform can win against larger competitors for major brand accounts. While headline growth rates slowed from Q2 due to the known headwinds, the underlying business performance remains strong. 🐂 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 Bulls will focus on the landmark Molson Coors partnership as proof that the upmarket strategy is working. They will also highlight the strong underlying growth of 22% in contribution ex-TAC (excluding known headwinds), the beat on all guided metrics, and the powerful momentum in the CTV business, which now accounts for 46% of total ad spend. Aggressive share buybacks also signal management's confidence. 🐻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 Bears will point to the year-over-year declines in both GAAP EPS (down 33%) and Non-GAAP EPS (down 20%). They will also note that the headline growth rates for revenue (+7%) and contribution ex-TAC (+12%) represent a significant deceleration from the prior quarter, even if the reasons were well-communicated in advance. ⚖️ 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 The bull case is more compelling. The headwinds were temporary and fully disclosed last quarter; managing through them and beating guidance is a positive execution signal. The strategic win with Molson Coors is a significant, long-term positive that de-risks the company's growth strategy and provides a powerful proof point for winning other large enterprise clients. — • — • — 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 🟢 𝘗𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 (𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵) This was the most critical theme, and Viant delivered. The multi-year partnership with Molson Coors, starting in 2026, is the first major win announced from the $250 million+ pipeline discussed last quarter. This validates the entire upmarket strategy and proves the ViantAI product suite is resonating with large, sophisticated brands. 🟢 𝘝𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 (𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵) The Molson Coors win was directly attributed to the capabilities of ViantAI. The company also won an industry award for "Best AI-Powered Advertising Solution." This theme is clearly materializing and is the key driver behind the company's expansion into the enterprise market. 🟢 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘛𝘝 (𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩) CTV remains the primary growth engine, reaching a record level and now making up 46% of total ad spend on the platform (up from ~45% in Q2). A new integration with Tubi expands the reach of Viant's IRIS_ID contextual targeting solution, further strengthening its position in this critical channel. 🟡 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘘3 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 (𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥) The ~1,000 basis point headwind from lapping political spend and a specific client loss materialized exactly as management guided. The company successfully navigated this challenge, beating guidance and providing clear metrics on underlying growth (Contribution ex-TAC grew 22% ex-items). This shows good execution and transparent communication. 🟡 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰-𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 (𝘕𝘰 𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦) Last quarter, management noted three advertisers paused spending, creating a ~400 bps headwind. There was no mention of these clients in the Q3 press release, leaving their status unclear. This remains a minor concern and a key question for the conference call. — • — • — 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 Viant beat expectations on its key metrics for the quarter. ⚪ Revenue: $85.6M (+7% YoY). 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 $83.5𝘔 - $86.5𝘔 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 🟢 Contribution ex-TAC: $53.0M (+12% YoY). 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 $51𝘔 - $53𝘔 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 🟢 Adjusted EBITDA: $16.0M (+9% YoY). 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 🔴 Non-GAAP EPS: $0.12. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 $0.15 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 🔴 GAAP EPS: $0.06. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 $0.09 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. ⚪ Cash and Equivalents: $161.3M. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 $173𝘔 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴. The company remains debt-free. — • — • — 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗤𝟰 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 Management provided strong guidance for Q4, implying both sequential and underlying year-over-year acceleration. ⚪ Revenue: $101.5M to $104.5M. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 $103𝘔 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 20% 𝘠𝘰𝘠 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. ⚪ Contribution ex-TAC: $62.0M to $64.0M. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 $63𝘔 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 21% 𝘠𝘰𝘠 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. ⚪ Adjusted EBITDA: $22.5M to $23.5M. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 $23𝘔 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 ~37% 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹-𝘛𝘈𝘊, a significant sequential and year-over-year improvement. — • — • — 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 1. The Molson Coors win is a major validation. Can you provide more color on the sales cycle and how much of the previously announced $250M pipeline this represents? How has that pipeline evolved? 2. What is the status of the three advertisers that paused spending last quarter? Is their potential return factored into the Q4 guidance? 3. You have repurchased stock aggressively. Given the strong balance sheet, what is the plan for capital returns and the remaining buyback authorization? 4. With CTV now at 46% of ad spend, can you break down the growth drivers? How much is coming from new publisher integrations versus deeper spend from existing clients? 5. Is the planned late-2025 launch of AI Decisioning still on track, and what are the early expectations for attracting new SMB advertisers in 2026?